UPPER MERION — Pennsylvania Secretary of Transportation Barry Schoch urged the state House to adopt a $2.5 billion transportation budget contained in the recently passed Senate Bill 1 at a Thursday afternoon press conference attended by local legislators.

“It is a public safety issue. The choice is very clear. We will improve the 100-year old bridges,” Schoch said. “Either we make an investment or we decide this is not the time. It is the time for a decision.”

The “45-to-five vote in the state Senate adopting the bill sends a message,” he continued. “There is a strong recognition in the House that this needs to be done.”

The press conference was held at the regional PennDOT Traffic Management Center, with a live video image of the Route 422 bridge crossing the Schuylkill River in the background.

“Governor Corbett started the process of moving a long-term, sustainable transportation plan forward, and the General Assembly needs to continue that process,” Schoch said. “With additional resources, we’ll make travel conditions safer and smoother for the 83,000 vehicles using U.S. 422 every day. The bottom line is that investments in transportation improve our quality of life.”

Schoch pointed out that the average age of Pennsylvania’s 25,000 bridges was 51 years.

“For every new bridge there are two bridges that are 75 years old,” Schoch said. “Collectively, there is a strong recognition that this is a time for action. The choice is pretty clear.”

“The business community has lined up behind the bill,” said state Sen. John Rafferty Jr., R-44th Dist., the sponsor of Senate Bill 1 and transportation committee chairman. “The building trades have lined up behind it ... It is an aggressive bill, but it is a bill that has an immediate need in the commonwealth. The governor’s own transportation advisory committee recommended a $3.5 billion bill.”

Rafferty said the bill represents about 1,000 jobs for each county in Pennsylvania.

“We have to get this passed,” he said. “I would like to keep it at the $2.5 billion figure.”

State Rep. Mike Vereb, R-150th Dist., called it “a necessary bill.”

“We will fight hard for the next week and a half for this bill. This is not the time for rhetoric and spin,” Vereb said. “We need to focus on our mission. SEPTA is a necessity. I will work with all our members to secure this funding.”

SEPTA General Manager Joseph Casey said a recent report “highlighted the chronic under-investment in public transit.”

“We have a backlog of $5 billion of repair work. We need to invest and we need to improve our infrastructure,” Casey said. “We have projects totaling $500 million at SEPTA that are ready to go after this is passed.”

Shawn McGlinchey of Krapf Bus Co. and the Pennsylvania School Bus Association said the proposed road improvements would reduce bus company maintenance costs.

“The Pennsylvania School Bus Association supports these improvements,” he said.

State Rep. Matt Bradford, D-70th Dist., said he wanted to see what is in the $2.5 billion transportation bill for the Lafayette Street slip ramp on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Road improvements to rebuild Lafayette Street and connections to Ridge Pike have already been funded, but the slip ramp and connector portion of the project has not.

The $133.4 million Route 422 bridge replacement project over the Schuylkill River may be among the state transportation projects that move forward when Gov. Tom Corbett’s transportation budget is adopted, Schoch said. The project includes road widening, replacement of the Route 23 bridge over Route 422 and construction of a new ramp from eastbound Route 422 to Route 23.

“After this exit is put in you will be able to proceed west on Route 422 as well as east,” Lower Providence Township Manager Richard Gestrich said. “Right now you can only proceed east toward Philadelphia.”

The interchange was originally constructed for commuters going to Philadelphia, Gestrich said.

“The township has been working on getting this constructed for a good three to four years,” he said.